Tierney walks out to protest workforce bill

U.S. Rep. John Tierney walked out of a House Education and the Workforce Committee debate Wednesday with fellow Democrats to protest Republicans’ rejection of a workforce modernization bill he co-sponsored.”The American people, the only way we’re going to get their attention here is to do something a little dramatic,” said the 6th District Congressman, calling the bill brought up for debate Wednesday instead of his “a sham.”Republicans, who control the committee because their party is the majority in the House of Representatives, scheduled a debate and vote Wednesday on their version of a bill that rewrites the 1998 Workforce Investment Act, a law both parties agree needs updating for today’s economy.The Republicans’ version of the bill would consolidate employment and training boards across the country into one fund that will be given to states in block grants with little specifications on how to spend the money to create jobs.Read a letter Tierney and Democrats sent to Republicans on the committeeTierney and other committee Democrats strongly oppose the bill, saying there’s no guarantee block grants will be used effectively to serve needier populations.”It takes all the programs and puts them in a bunch,” he said. “It says veterans don’t have any special needs, young people don’t have special needs, English language learners don’t have special needs.”Watch Congressman Tierney speak at Wednesday’s mark upA similar bill to the Republicans’ version passed the committee last year on party lines but never made it to the floor of the House for a vote. Tierney said its slim chances of becoming law this year is why he chose to walk out of the committee vote Wednesday.”We tried to make the point that this is a bill that needs to have bipartisan support if it’s going to be one that passes in the Senate, gets signed by the president and does this job,” he said.In February, Tierney co-sponsored an alternative that he and fellow Democrats said would modernize the workforce act by creating partnerships with in-demand sector employees, community colleges, labor organizations and nonprofits to build high-tech jobs.He and the bill’s co-sponsors asked Republican committee leaders to postpone Wednesday’s vote until the committee could discuss the Democrats’ bill.Republicans in New England criticized Tierney’s walk out as “pathetic” and “childish.””Walking out of a committee vote because he can’t get his way is not only disrespectful to the institution of Congress, but it is a slap in the face to his constituents that pay him to vote, not to throw petulant tantrums to score political points in Washington, D.C.,” wrote Ian Prior, a northeast regional spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee in a press release.Tierney said it’s Republicans who are being intransigent by pushing through a bill he thinks will never become law, adding his party is willing to compromise to get a bipartisan law.”I hear it all the time when I go home: ?Why can’t you folks work together?'” he said. “(Democrats) have been more than willing to work together.”Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].